How to Plant & Grow Garlic in the Garden

Garlic (Allium sativum) belongs to the onion family Alliaceae, and is related to the leek, onion, shallot and chive. Garlic plants are hardy and they resist most pests and diseases. You can buy bulbs from your local grocery store, or from a local garden store or nursery. Garlic will take up to eight months before it matures, so you will want to plant it in the fall to harvest in the spring or early summer; or you can plant the cloves outdoors in the early spring to harvest in the late fall.

Compost or manure
Garden hoe
10-10-10 fertilizer

Instructions

- 1
  Prepare a location with well-drained soil in your garden by loosening the soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches deep. Add compost or manure to the garden bed, and work it 4 inches into the soil.
- 2
  Create 1-inch deep furrows with a garden hoe. Space the rows 6 to 10 inches apart.
- 3
  Separate the garlic bulbs into cloves right before you plant them. Avoid separating them too far in advance or they may not germinate.
- 4
  Plant the garlic cloves with the pointed end facing up 1 to 3 inches deep. Space them 4 inches apart, and cover the cloves lightly with soil.
- 5
  Water the soil to keep it moist. Dislodge weeds in the garden with a cultivator. Place 2 inches of mulch such as peat moss or sawdust over the garlic. The mulch helps to keep weeds away and it retains the moisture. Avoid watering the garlic three weeks before harvest.
- 6
  Add a 10-10-10 fertilizer to the garlic three weeks after you plant the bulbs by following the directions on the package.
- 7
  Pinch off the flowers on the garlic when they form and bend the stalks over so that they are toward the ground. This will help to encourage bulb formation.
- 8
  Harvest the garlic bulbs when the leaves die back. Dig the dirt from the garlic carefully so that you do not damage the bulb. Lift the bulb from the soil and rinse it off in your kitchen sink with cool water.

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